I was under my car today and noticed the passenger side exhaust manifold stud closest to the back of the car was missing. Upon further inspection I found that it snapped off about an 1/8" below the head surfaceNo telling when this happened, I've never messed with the manifolds so I guess it just got too old and rusty and broke. All the exhaust hardware is very corroded, so I suspect even using proper heat I'd still snap a few more studs if I try to remove them.
That go me thinking, is there any reason I can't just swap the manifolds to the opposite side? As far as I can tell the way the flanges are oriented it would mean all the unused holes in the head would be utilized, so regardless of how many studs break it won't really matter. The hole orientation for connecting to the crossover pipe also seems like it would be compatible. I haven't seen anyone else suggest this so I imagine there's something obvious I'm overlooking.
Thought?